WEA courses

Learners will work with the tutor to improve confidence in their ability to develop their artistic skills and creativity within oil painting. You will be developing the skills to create a detailed landscape painting; challenging yourself to try new and different subjects. You will learn using a range of different teaching and learning activities, to include watching and following step by step demonstrations, with one-to-one help and guidance from a friendly and encouraging tutor. You will learn in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment, working together with your fellow learners and the tutor. This course is suitable for a complete beginner but also for those wanting to improve their existing skills in painting. No prior knowledge is needed, just a desire to learn and begin your journey to develop your artistic skills.

Practice techniques for creating short stories, true or untrue in fortnightly sessions. We'll apply the principles of short fiction to our writing, with the focus this term on thinking about how point-of-view impacts on structure. There will be writing exercises, discussions, an optional weekly homework task and feedback. Guidance on feedback techniques will be provided. The course content has flexibility, and will be adapted to suit the needs of the group. Suitable for improvers. This course uses the same content as the other fortnightly class, Creative Writing: Structure & Point of View Q00012330, the Thursday evening course, Structure & Point-of-View, and the Friday morning course, Creative Writing: Structure & Point-of-View, therefore you need only enrol on to one of them.

You'll learn about the key pillars of creative writing, which will help you write effective fiction pieces, as well as create an effective creative writing practice. Whether you want to write a novel, short stories, or just write for self-awareness and personal development, come along, and join the class, whether you consider yourself an absolute beginner or someone who has written a little in the past.

Come along and join our friendly lipreading group at The Centre in Newlyn. This class is suitable for all levels of lipreaders and is ideal for those recently experiencing hearing loss. Our experienced tutor will guide you through the basics of lipreading and show you how to practice your lipreading skills in everyday life. Research has shown that attending a lipreading class can give you greater: • Confidence to communicate with others • Control over your hearing loss, as you develop new communication skills • Independence, as you’re less reliant on others to help you follow conversation (Source RNID.org.uk) You will learn in a supportive environment alongside other learners who will be able to share their experiences of hearing loss and learn how to overcome them together

To explore the basics of counselling and the profession and discuss how skills in counselling could support interactions in the workplace. This course focuses on an understanding of counselling and developing practical skills. The importance of counselling for the wellbeing of individuals and society is being increasingly recognised. You will be introduced to the nature of counselling and learn and practice active listening skills such as reflecting, paraphrasing, summarising, and giving feedback. The course is aimed at anyone who may be considering either a career in counselling, or wanting to develop valuable helping and listening skills, as well as anyone interested in developing self-awareness.

Do you often feel overwhelmed? Would you like to have more control over your emotions? This course can teach you how to build emotional resilience through effective emotional awareness and confidence-building exercises. It’s easy to feel like everything is getting on top of us during these uncertain times. This Mental Resilience training can help you identify small steps to maintain calm during challenging situations. Avoid feeling like everything is unravelling and learn to deal with challenges when they come. This Mental Resilience training will help you identify aspects of your life or situations that are difficult emotionally. Work together with the group to develop strategies to deal with these emotions without falling apart. Explore various confidence-building exercises to help you handle your emotions. Learn how to build emotional resilience. You may do activities such as presenting to the class or surveying friends and family members. Emotional Resilience courses help you excel in personal and professional situations. By the end of this emotional awareness course you will have tools and strategies to feel stronger in the face of challenging situations. Depending on your needs, there are various study options after this course. You may consider a course in Assertiveness or Confidence Building. Please bear in mind that you’ll need to have access to the internet to take this confidence course online. Communicate with your tutor and access learning materials through Canvas, the WEA’s digital learning portal. We’re committed to helping you access and enjoy adult education. If there’s something we can do to help you, we will. Your learning is our priority. The WEA is an adult education provider and we pride ourselves on our ability to create a friendly classroom atmosphere, in person and online.

The course will briefly introduce the principal ideas of a selection of philosophers and apply these to the discussion of the news headlines and the controversies that lie behind them. This course will encourage discussion and sharing of ideas about current affairs and will involve reflecting on how to make philosophy a part of this discussion. Reading material will be provided on Canvas and the tutor will introduce the key ideas of relevant articles. However, reading before class is not essential. The main activity is to share ideas on news stories.

Do you want to learn the basics of watercolours? Have you tried before and given up in frustration? Why not join this course for support and encouragement? Watercolour, simply put, is water mixed with pigment which is then applied to paper. But painting with watercolours is something entirely different. It can be complex, confusing, and fun at the same time. While not a medium to be controlled or manipulated, part of the very beauty of working with watercolours is learning to let go! Come and join us to find out more.

"Baking on a Budget" is an 11-hour course teaching basic baking skills while saving money. Learn how to bake, mix, flour, sugar, and butter. The course covers how to buy affordable ingredients, follow simple recipes, and store baked goods properly. You'll get hands-on practice, watch helpful videos, and join fun activities. The course also provides tips on fixing common baking problems and quizzes to test your knowledge. By the end, you'll know how to bake delicious treats without spending much money and understand basic baking vocabulary to confidently follow recipes.

Essex museums are full of wonderful and sometimes surprising objects. This course takes a selection of objects looked after in museums all over the county and uses them as sources for learning about everyday life in Essex in the past. Covering a range of themes and times the course will also give you some ideas for places to visit in your own time.